


Unexpected Forever

by MadQueenMeghan



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadQueenMeghan/pseuds/MadQueenMeghan
Summary: When Ryan meets Abigail he offers her help, he never expected what would come out of it.I'm bad at descriptions just a cute romance about Ryan Haywood.**Self-harm warning at the beginning of the book





	1. Chapter 1

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He screamed at me.

5 minutes ago my boyfriend Aaron had found me crying on the bathroom floor, razor in hand, wrists bleeding.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?!" I yelled back at him, pure rage flowing through me at this point. This was the last straw. I was done with putting with with Aaron being so horrible to me. I stormed to the front hallway of our apartment throwing on my shoes and slipping on a jacket, wincing as it grazed against the fresh cuts on my wrists.

"Oh come on babe. Where are you going?" His voice filled with fake regret asked.

"Anywhere that you're not! We're done Aaron!" I yelled before slamming the door behind me and storming down the street. Well I really did not think this one through! I thought to myself after realizing that all I had was my phone, headphones, pack of gum and about $4. It's ok, I'll just go to Starbucks and buy a coffee, that way I can sit there for as long as I need. After another 5 minutes of walking I entered the warm building breathing in the scent of fresh coffee before looking around. Shit. I think as I notice the line. It looks to be about a 20 minute wait just to order a coffee. Maybe I'll just sit down for a few minutes and wait for this rush of people to be over. I sat down in a booth by myself popping in my headphones and putting my music on shuffle.

I had only been sitting for about 10 minutes when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I pulled out my headphones only to be filled with a combination of fear, comfort, lust and worry. The very intimidating man standing beside me towered over my tiny 5'1 frame and his bright blue eyes stared into mine, mesmerizing me. His sandy blond hair was cut short but still long enough to run his fingers through. And even though it was quite obvious he was no male model it was clear to me that there was still a significant amount of muscle hiding behind his black hoodie and loosely fitting blue jeans.

"Are you okay?" He asked in the deepest, sexiest voice I had ever heard as worry filled his gorgeous eyes.

"Um, ya. Why wouldn't I be?" I answered nervously and I noticed his eyes flicker down towards my wrist. I glanced down quickly and noticed that the blood had begun to seep through my jacket.

"Shit" I mumbled quietly before crossing my arms to hide the now blood soaked sleeves. I looked back up again and attempted to give a smile but I'm pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace and I mentally face palmed.

With a caring smile on his face, he asked, "Do you like hot chocolate?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I guess so." I shrug and can't help but let out a little smirk as he slides a cup of what I presume to be hot chocolate towards me. "You were really hoping I'd say yes, weren't you?" I asked with a little giggle. Wait did I just giggle?! What's happening to me?

"Ya maybe." he said one side of his mouth raising into a slight smirk. Ok that was adorable. "Anyways tell me about yourself."

"There isn't really anything much to know. I'm Abigail," I said looking back down at my cup then taking a long sip of it.

"Alright I'll go first then. My name's James, but I go by my middle name, Ryan. I was born and raised in Georgia but moved to Austin for work. I work for a company who puts gaming content on YouTube as well as our own website, so I basically get to play video games for a living which is pretty fun. I have 2 kids who my world revolve around and I'm recently separated from my wife." I noticed his smile falter towards the end when he talked about his wife and kids.

"I'm sorry. About your wife I mean." I said clumsily.

"That's okay. We both knew it was bound to happen. Sometimes being high school sweethearts doesn't really work out."

There was a moment of awkward silence. I was afraid to say something wrong and upset him. "Hey guys I'm really sorry to have to do this but we're closing now." I looked up to see an employee of the coffee shop standing over us. Crap! Where am I going to go? I'm sure as hell not going back to my asshole of an ex.

"Hey let me give you a ride home. It's late and people are creepy." Ryan looked at me with an amused face.

"No that's ok. I'll just walk." to the nearest park bench.

"No please it would really make me feel a while lot better knowing you got home safe." he said the amusement being wiped from his face as he once again glanced at my wrist.

I guess I'm actually going to do this. "Ok so I don't actually have anywhere to go. But I'll be ok I'll go spend the night in a park or something." He took in a deep breath and looked down at his shoes before replying.

"I don't mean to sound creepy or anything but I have a spare room in my apartment, you can spend the night there if you want." he said with a nervous smile on his face.

I really shouldn't but I really want to. Something about him just makes me feel safe. I can either risk getting murdered by a hot guy, or risk getting murdered in a park by a homeless person. By now we had made out way out the door and were standing outside in the parking lot. I couldn't help myself, I ran up and hugged him tightly. Whispering thank you's, a few tears slipping out of my eyes. I barely knew this guy but when he wrapped his large arms around me in return, burying his face in my hair. I felt tingles down my spine. His arms felt like home. Like they were where I belonged.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a quick, awkward car ride back to his apartment, which was surprisingly clean and organized.

"So this is it. I know it's not much but it home for now," he said to me nervously. "Here, I'll show you your room." Ryan said leading me down a short hallway and opening the second door on the right. It wasn't anything special, just a bed, nightstand, and a dresser but it was still a whole lot better than a park bench. "I'll grab you some towels if you want to take a shower." He entered the door across the hall and came back quickly with two big white towels, a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "I thought you might want something more comfortable to sleep in and we can wash your clothes."

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate this." I gave him a small smile.

"Yeah it's no problem," he said smiling, "The bathroom's right here." He said walking back down the hallway to the door beside mine.

"Thanks."

15 minutes later I was out of the shower thinking about the inevitable conversation about to happen. I sighed as I slipped on the t-shirt that came down to almost my knees, and tried to put the sweatpants on. They were way too big and wouldn't stay up. Oh well, I guess the shirt is long enough. I towel dried my hair a little bit before gathering up as much courage as I could and nervously walking out of the bathroom. Ryan was sitting on the couch in the living room texting someone.

I cleared my throat before speaking quietly, "The, um, the sweatpants don't fit." He jumped startled and looked me up and down quickly before nodding. I blushed, suddenly aware that I was in a stranger's home in just a t-shirt, my arms still bleeding a little. God, I'm such an idiot he's probably going to rape and murder me.

"Oh right, come into the kitchen and I'll fix you up." He said with a small sad smile glancing at my wrists. I nodded following him into the kitchen where he reached up into the cupboard to get a first aid kit his shirt lifted up a little exposing his stomach and I blushed even harder, looking away quickly. "All right, hop up onto the counter beside the sink." I followed his instructions with slight difficulty, trying not to flash him my underwear. He turned on the tap and gently grabbed my arm making butterflies erupt in stomach. He rinsed my arm off under the warm water then did the same to the other before he gave me a little grimace murmuring, "These are deeper than I thought they were." I look down ashamed when he looked up at me, " This is probably going to hurt," he said grabbing some alcohol wipes. As soon as it touched my arm pain exploded through it and I winced, quickly reaching out to grab him arm to stop him. "I know, I know, I'm sorry but I have to." He spoke gently taking my hand off his arm and instead holding it in his own before trying one again to clean the cuts. I clenched my jaw trying to focus on anything but the pain. Occasionally I let out a small whimper and squeezed his hand hard before I realized that I was probably hurting him and stopped. Once that torture was over he took his hand from mine, I blushed forgetting I had been holding it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to squeeze your hand that hard." I whispered before hearing his low chuckle, which brought the butterflies back full force.

"It's fine, I think I'll survive it," He said giving me that adorable smile. "I'm almost done, I'm just gonna put some bandages on them to keep them from getting infected." He reached over to grab the gauze, scissors and medical tape. "Are you going to tell me why?" He asked so quietly I barely heard him while began wrapping my arms slowly and methodically.

I had known this was coming but it didn't make it any easier. "I guess I probably should, I at least owe you that much." I looked at him nervously before starting, "Well, when I was a kid I was bullied a lot and had a verbally abusive mother and I developed depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder because of it. When I was 12 they started me on serious antidepressants and sleeping pills and antipsychotics, mixing and matching and experimenting until I was 17 when my mom kicked me out because I wasn't good enough for her. I started self-harming when I was about 15 just to feel something, because the medications left me so numb and unfortunately it's become an addiction that I just can't stop. Since then I've been on my own struggling to stay alive but unfortunately I attract crazy abusive men, most recently Aaron who I lived with up until a few hours ago." I hadn't noticed that he'd finished bandaging my arms, I also hadn't noticed the few tears that had slipped down my face while I was talking until Ryan wiped them from my eyes, before pulling me into a hug. I couldn't help it anymore, I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have told you this, I shouldn't be here bothering you. You're so nice you shouldn't be worrying about me."

"Hey," he spoke soothingly, "Don't say that. You deserve way better than what life has given you. You deserve someone to worry about you. You deserve someone to take care of you for once." He ran his hands up and down my back as the tears fell harder at his words.

"No I don't, you don't even know me, how could you say that? I'm worthless, I'm nothing. I deserve everything I've gotten."

"I don't know you but I know that everyone deserves something good, especially those who have only had horrible things in their life. You deserve the world Abigail." He whispered, burying his head into my neck and slightly rocking me back and forth until I was done crying.

I pulled out of his arms, "I'm sorry, I should go get out of your hair now." I said and tried to get down off the counter but before I could I was back in his arms again, with him standing in between my legs, and I blushed once again. He smelled amazing.

"You should stay," he whispered into my ear, "It's not safe out there for a pretty, young girl alone at night." Am I hallucinating or did he just call me pretty? "Let me help you."

I nodded against his warm chest, "Okay," I'd be happy if I could stay like this wrapped in his arms forever but unfortunately he pulled away.

"Good. Now we should probably go to bed because I have to work tomorrow." He smiled before helping me off the counter and leading me down the hall into my room. "Do you need anything else?"

"No I'm okay, thank you." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Okay then. Goodnight gorgeous." He said before turning and walking back down the hallway towards the kitchen. Well tonight has been interesting. I climbed into the soft warm bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up to something warm and wet on my face. I groaned before turning over only to have something nudge my shoulder. I opened my eyes and turned back around only to come face to face with a happy looking, medium sized, brown dog. I don't own a dog. I shot up and panicked for a moment when I didn't recognize my surroundings before remembering what happened last night. I let out a sigh of relief before getting up and remaking the bed. I looked around for my clothes and they were nowhere to be found. I decided to wander out to see if I had left them in the kitchen last night. I entered the kitchen to find Ryan standing over the stove wearing loose fitting blue jeans and a green shirt with a weird star logo on it.

Looking up and noticing me, Ryan said, "Morning sunshine. I see you've met Mya." He looked towards the dogs who had followed and was now sitting beside me. "I hope you like pancakes."

"I love them," I paused before awkwardly asking, "Hey Ryan, where are my clothes." He looked up at me as if just remembering that I was wearing just a t-shirt. He smiled at me before walking out and coming back a few seconds later with my clothes folded.

"I washed them last night, hope you don't mind," I blushed seeing my bra on top of the pile.

"Thanks, I'm just gonna go change quickly." I walked back down to the bathroom changing and using the bathroom. By the time I got back to the kitchen Ryan had two plates of pancakes sitting on the breakfast bar.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Just water is fine, thanks." He nodded reaching into fridge and grabbing two water bottles. We sat down in comfortable silence and I took a bite of the best pancakes I had ever eaten. Letting out a moan I said, "These are the greatest pancakes I have ever tasted." Taking another bite I laughed, " Marry me now."

He just laughed in return and we enjoyed the rest of our breakfast.

"So I have to work today and you don't have anywhere to go so do you want to come with me?" He asked with a nervous smile on his face.

"Are you allowed to do that?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah my boss is pretty cool, just don't tell him I said that. Plus it's a bit of a sausage fest we could use another girl hanging around." At that I burst out laughing.

"Okay, I'll go as long as I'm not going to be bothering you."

"Nah, you could never bother me." He grinned at me. "We're going to leave in about 10 minutes okay?"

"Sure. Do you by any chance have an extra toothbrush?"

"Oh yeah, follow me." He lead me into the bathroom, opening a drawer in the vanity he pulled out a brand new toothbrush and toothpaste. "Also I forgot to mention, the blood wouldn't wash out of your jacket so you can borrow one of my sweaters if you want."

"Okay thanks Ryan." I finished and walked out to see Ryan with Mya on a leash.

"I'm going to take her outside quickly before we go, you can grab a sweater from my closet. My room is right across from yours." I nodded and found my way to his door letting out a breath of nervousness. This is weird that I'm just going into his room like this but he's the one that told me to do it so I guess it's okay. I sighed and opened his door to find a surprisingly neat room with grey walls and dark wood furniture complimented nicely by a navy bedspread and area rug. This was not at all what I was expecting. I walked over to the closet and grabbed a random hoodie that had been hanging up. It was black with the same weird star logo on his shirt. I pulled it on and was immediately enveloped in his scent, I don't ever want to take this sweater off. I chuckled to myself over how creepy I was being before walking back out of his room shutting the door behind me. I reached the living room right as Ryan was coming back inside. He let the dog off the leash before beaming at me, "Ready to go?"

I nodded and smiled back, walking outside and waiting for him to lock the door. We walked towards his car and he kept looking at me and smiling weirdly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh nothing just admiring how good you look in my sweater," I blushed and he chuckled. "And how cute you look when you blush." I looked down at the floor and blushed even harder. We walked silently the rest of the way to his car and about 10 minutes into the drive a song I knew came on. I started singing along badly and he laughed at me before joining in. We spent the rest of the drive singing along to songs badly and laughing at each other.

I felt my anxiety hit me like a wall when we parked in the parking lot of a huge building. Oh no, huge building means lots of people, and lots of people means anxiety attacks. Ryan looked over and seemed to notice my unease.

"Are you okay?" He asked furrowing his brows together.

I nodded, "Yeah I'm just not so good with lots of new people." I gave him a nervous look.

"It's okay, I'll be right beside you the whole time and if you need a break just let me know okay?" I nodded in reply and we got out of the car walking to the door. My heart started to beat faster and Ryan reached over and grabbed my hand. For some reason it calmed me down immensely and I felt a little safer entering the building with him. I squeezed his hand gently and he gave me one last smile before he opened the door and we walked into what looked a reception area. He nodded to a girl sitting behind a desk who gave me a weird look and we continued walking to another door. He typed in a passcode on the door and we walked into what I can only describe as utter chaos. People were screaming and throwing things and running around and I quickly hid behind Ryan. He looked back at me and gave me and apologetic look.

"Hey assholes!" He yelled out and everyone stopped and looked over at us. "It's too early for this shit." A few of the guys laughed at this, and one with what sounded like a british accent yelled out at us.

"Hey Ryan, who's the girl?"


	4. Chapter 4

I shrunk down trying to make myself as small as possible so I could hide further behind Ryan. He looked down at me comfortingly before gently grabbing my hand and pulling me out from behind him. He placed a large warm hand on the small of my back, sending chills up my spine.

"This is my friend Abigail. She's going to hang out for the day, and you jerkoffs better not bother her." He told them with an authoritative voice. Damn that was sexy. No, Abigail stop, you're not allowed to like this guy. I sighed before looking up for the first time to see 5 men and 1 woman all looking at me questioningly. I gave a nervous smile and a small wave to them before the woman seemed to notice my anxiousness, stepping forward and introducing herself.

"Hey I'm Lindsay! It's nice to finally have another girl around here." She introduced herself with a friendly smile on her face before turning around and glaring at a man with curly auburn hair. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards me. "Please excuse my rude husband." She gave him another glare and he sighed, introducing himself.

"What's up, I'm Michael." He stuck his hand out, which I awkwardly shook and he turned around, walking to the other side of the room and sitting back down at a desk. Great I've been here not even two minutes and they already hate me.

 

I hear someone else clear their throat and I look over to see a large man with a big red beard walking over towards me. I step closer to Ryan and squeeze his hand. This man looked like he could crush me with one hand.

"It's ok, nobody here is going to hurt you." Ryan whispered lowly so only I could hear. I felt a little bit of my anxiety disappear at his words but I was still visibly nervous as you could see by the look on the large man's face. He looked almost hurt that I was scared of him.

"I'm Jack," he told me with a soft smile. He reached out to shake my hand gently. Woah his voice sounded almost identical to Ryan's! He and Ryan both chuckled as I looked back and forth between the two of them.

Another man lets out a loud laugh as he yells out, "Team Same Voice strikes again!" He strode over towards me confidently. "I'm Geoff and unfortunately I'm in charge of all these idiots." He grins at me and the british lets out a loud "Hey". I laugh quietly to myself remembering Ryan's words from earlier about his boss. I smile up at Ryan and he gives me a smile with a look in his eyes that tells me he's happy that I seem to be a little less nervous now. "Let me introduce the rest of them since they don't seem to want to do it themselves." He points to the british one, "That's Gavin, he's the stupid one."

At this Gavin frowns before looking over to me smiling happily and waving, "Alright love?"

Geoff points to the last man, he was short (still taller than me but only by a couple of inches) and had bright purple hair. "That's Jeremy but everyone just calls him Lil J." Jeremy gives me a nod and a small smile before turning back to whatever work he was doing. "So Ryan, can I talk to you and Abigail for a minute?" Ryan nods and my mouth goes dry as a I follow them out of the room and into a small office. I can feel tears start to well up in my eyes. Oh god I got him in trouble. I shouldn't have come now he's gonna get fired and it will be my fault and he'll hate me. 

"Hey chill," Geoff startles me as he speaks in a soft voice, "You're not in trouble or anything." I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding and Geoff let out a sigh. "Listen I don't know who you are and I don't know how you two met and I don't know what your relationship to him is, all I ask is that you don't distract him or anyone else in the office. Even though we play video games for a living we still have shit to get done and a schedule to stick to. As long as you do that you can hang out for as long as you want."

"Yeah, yeah of course. I'll stay out of everyone's way I promise. Thank you, Geoff."

He grunts, "Yeah don't thank me yet, clearly you've never seen our work environment before." And with that he walks out, leaving me and Ryan alone.

"Are you okay?" he asks genuinely.

"Yeah I think so."

"You don't have to lie to me. I know you're uncomfortable, but trust me give it a few hours and you'll warm up to everybody."

I chuckle at that, "Yeah except for the one guy who hates me."

Ryan looks confused for a minute. "Oh Michael? Nah he's probably just pissed off at Gavin for something. It happens a lot, he'll get over it don't worry." I nodded at this and it was quiet for a minute, Ryan seemed to be trying to find the right words to say. "I don't want to scare you but I should probably warn you that we don't exactly work like normal people. There is probably going to be a lot of yelling and swearing and throwing of things. But don't worry no one actually means anything they say and no one would ever hurt you, especially Jack." He says giving me a nervous smile. "I know he scared you but honestly he's the nicest of us. He's pretty much a giant teddy bear." At this I have to laugh imagining Jack with a little bow tie on. "Ok ready to go in there?"

"I'm as ready as I'm going to be, which means I'm not at all ready." He laughs at that and takes my hand again.

"Come on, you'll be okay. Besides I'll be right there with you and if you need a break or if you need to go take a breather, just tell me." Something about his words gave me more confidence and I nodded grinning at him.

"Okay let's do this!" And with that he leads me back into the chaos that was the office.


	5. Chapter 5

By now it was about 12:30 and I had stayed true to my word, staying out of everyone's way and not distracting them. Instead, I sat beside Ryan at his desk just watching him work and every now and then he would explain to me what he was doing while editing videos. I swear I could watch him work forever, that adorable little look he got on his face when he was concentrating on something, biting his lip when he got frustrated, and his hands. Oh god, his hands! Did I mention how nice his hands were? Because they were really nice, strong, and much larger than my own. And apparently still wearing a wedding band. Huh I'll have to ask about that later. Ugh I'm such a weirdo. What is wrong with me? Why am I so obsessed with his hands? You need to stop, you're not allowed to like this guy, it will only make it harder when he ends up hating you just like everyone else does. I let out a defeated sigh and he looked over at me with an understanding smile.

"I know it's boring, sorry." He glanced over at the clock before looking back at me, a wider smile now on his face, "Wanna go get lunch? I've got an hour break."

"Uh, yeah sure." I stuttered out, and stood up after he did to follow him out.

"I'm going to lunch!" He yelled out to no one in particular, earning a grunt in response from Geoff. "So, what do you feel like eating?"

"I don't care, I'm not really hungry." I lied to him, looking down at the ground. He grabbed my arm stopping me, we had made it halfway through the parking lot.

"Abigail, you need to eat." He told me, looking in my eyes with a worried look.

"I know I'm just not very hungry right now, don't worry about me I'm fine." I told him with a big cheesy grin that I could tell he didn't buy completely, but he gave in anyway.

"Alright, let's go then." He told me with a small smile, his arm sliding from my arm to lock our fingers together. He started laughing as I took off skipping the rest of the way through the parking lot, dragging him along behind me.

"Come on slowpoke! Keep up!" I yelled at him through my giggles.

"My god, you're like a child!" He yelled back, trying to stop his laughter and hide his smile. He tripped and almost took both of us out. At this I lost it completely, laughing so hard I almost fell over. I noticed the slight pink blush that spread across his face. I didn't think it was possible for him to get any more adorable but apparently, I was very wrong. I hadn't even realized that during my little breakdown I had begun to lean on him and we were now standing very close to one another. He seemed to notice too and an awkward silence fell over us as we stepped apart. I cleared my throat before trying to relieve the awkwardness.

"Fine, I'll slow down old man." I said sarcastically, bringing back a more joking atmosphere between us.

He put his hand on his chest, feigning offence, "How dare you? I'm not even that old!" A happy smile returning to his face.

I chuckled at this at this as he unlocked the car, both of us getting in. "How old are you? You never told me."

"I'm 36. You?" He gave a quick glance before turning back to focus on the road.

"You are not 36! Ryan, you look maybe 30." It was his turn to laugh at this. Ugh the sound of him laughing will be the death of me. Making these stupid butterflies flutter in my stomach.

"I can assure you I'm being completely honest with this one. Thank you for saying that though." Wow he looked damn good for his age!

"So, mister 36, I am a lot younger than you."

He laughed at that, "Oh ya? How old are you then?"

"Nope, you have to guess."

"Oh, god you really are a child," he laughed at me. "Okay, um 26?"

"No."

"28?"

"Nope."

"24?"

"You're getting warmer."

He sighed, "Just tell me already! I'd like to know before I'm 37!" Taking advantage of the red light we were sitting at to look over and give me a goofy smile.

"I am 22 years of age." I said nervous of how he was going to react.

"Wow really? You look much older than that." He blurted out. Ouch. He winced when he realized what he had said and with his most sympathetic smile he managed to stutter out, "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant you seem much more mature than a normal 22 year old."

"No, it's okay. I get it the years haven't been as kind to me as they have been to you." I joked, trying to make him feel better. It was fine I had always looked older than I really was so I was used to surprised reactions. He gave a small laugh before the car fell into a comfortable silence, shitty music playing softly on the radio filling the car.

10 minutes we finally made it to a cute little diner.

"Finally! I don't know if I could've put up that horrible music very much longer." I exclaimed anxious to see him smile so I knew whether he wanted anything to do with me now that he knew my age.

"You know, you can change the station if you want to, there's more than one station in Austin." And there it was, that smile accompanied by a rather sexy low chuckle. I breathed a sigh of relief as we walked into the building, happy that at least he was still being nice to me in public.

"You're not going to be mad if I play with the radio?"

"Nah, I'm not really that into music. I'm okay with pretty much everything, except for country."

We slid into a booth, sitting across from each other. "What? A good southern boy like you isn't into country music?" I teased.

"Oh, and a good little southern girl like you isn't into ponies and baking?" He joked back.

We were both scanning the menus trying to decide what we wanted but at this I looked up with a smirk. Oh boy, this should be good. "Actually, I am into both of those things but I'm not southern."

His head shot up staring at me incredulously. "W-what?"

"I work on a horse farm and I love baking, pies mostly. Also, most of my childhood was spent in Canada even though I was born in New York." I shrugged at him nonchalantly.

"I-I don't even know what to say. I think I'm psychic or something." I burst out laughing just as the waitress came by to take our orders.

"Hi. I'm Jackie and I'll be looking after you guys today. Do you know what you want yet or do you need a few minutes?" She was really pretty. A tall skinny blonde with gorgeous green eyes. She was also very clearly eyeing up Ryan. Of course she was! He's a good-looking man! Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. She was the complete opposite of me, she should be sitting here with him right now, not me.

"I think we're ready," he said giving her a polite smile. "I'll have the cheeseburger with fries and a diet coke please." He handed her his menu and she very obviously made sure their hands brushed against each other's. She gave him a coy smile and took the menu from him.

"It's no problem at all, sugar."

I cleared my throat awkwardly to get her attention, "Do you have any peppermint tea?"

"Nope." She answered quite rudely. Looking me up and down as if asking how I ended up out to lunch with this handsome guy. "We just have earl grey and orange pekoe."

"Okay, I'll just have the orange pekoe then, please." I gave her a polite smile. She nodded, gave Ryan another smile and headed to the kitchen with our order.

 

"So, horses huh?" Ryan asked me. "How'd you get into that?"

"Well I've been riding since I was 10, it was my way of coping and it's a way to make money doing something I enjoy."

"I see. When do you work?"

"I do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 until 3 or 4 depending on my workload and Saturday mornings from 8 to 12."

"So, did you skip on work today, I mean it is Friday?"

I paled and cleared my throat, "No, me and Aaron were supposed to go visit his family in Dallas for the weekend so I took today and Monday off."

"Oh." And with that we fell into an awkward silence. Neither of us really knew what to say after that. And just my luck, Jackie had perfect timing (please note the sarcasm). She walked over and set Ryan's drink down gently on the table with a friendly smile and turned towards me, pretty much dropping my tea onto the table. Some of the hot liquid spilled on me and I winced but I wasn't going to say anything about it.

"Your food will be out soon sir." She began to walk away swaying her hips but I called her back.

"Excuse me miss." I said timidly. She whipped around and walked back over towards us.

"Is there something else I can do for you?" she asked me with a glare.

"Yes, sorry, can I get some milk and sugar for my tea please?" I shrunk down further into my seat trying to hide from her glare.

She smirked and looked me up and down smugly, "Oh I didn't think you needed any." She mocked looking back down to my stomach and then walked away again.

And here come the tears. Hold yourself together. Get to the bathroom and take a minute. "S-sorry Ryan I'll be back in a m-minute." I didn't wait for a response before I stood up and speed walked to the bathroom. Luckily it was a single bathroom. I locked the door and leaned my back against it, closing my eyes and trying to calm my breathing. Don't cry you fat idiot. You knew this was coming eventually. He's probably taking the opportunity to get her number right now. At that a gentle sob escaped my mouth and I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. I stood there a few minutes crying before I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Look at you you're a fucking mess! Now what are you gonna do? He'll definitely be able to tell you were crying. I heard a soft knock on the door. And once again someone had perfect timing. "Someone's in here." I said trying to sound composed.

"Abigail, are you okay? You've been gone a while." And of course, it was the last person in the world I wanted to see right now.

"Oh, Ryan, y-ya I'm fine." I choked out my voice coming out more strained than I had hoped it would.

"I know you're lying." He paused for a second, "Come on, let me in." I tried to come up with an excuse not to let him in but finally decided just to open the door. I turned around and unlocked it before looking to the ground and opening the door for him. I could see his shoes, I knew he was there, but I couldn't meet his eyes. Not while I was crying my eyes out. We stood there like that for a moment before he spoke, "Hey. Look at me." When I hesitated, he reached out and gently grabbed my chin to lift my head up, and my eyes met his. His eyes filled with sadness when he saw me and I started crying even harder. I didn't mean to make him sad. I'm such a horrible person. "What's going on? What happened?"

"I j-just, I'm sorry Ryan. I'm so horrible. I intruded on you last night and then I annoyed you all day and now I'm having a breakdown in a public bathroom because some girl was being a bitch to me. I don't even want to know what you think of me right now. I shouldn't be here. With you. I shouldn't be burdening you with my problems. You're too nice. Why are you so nice?" He pulled me into a tight hug one arm wrapped around my waist, the other cradling the back of my head. "And you're funny. And you smell good. And good lord you're gorgeous! Why do I have to like you so much?" Oh no. What did you just say? Why would you say that you creep? I was full out sobbing into his shirt now. He stepped forward pushing us further into the bathroom so he could close the door.

He slid down the door so he was sitting on the floor leaning against it. He pulled me so I was sitting in his lap. "No, I'll crush you. Stop."

"Abigail, you weigh like 100 pounds you're not going to crush me." He began slowly rocking us side to side and I could feel the rumble of his chest as he hummed lowly. We sat like that for a few minutes him rocking us and singing to me. When I was no longer hysterical he stopped rocking and singing and loosened his grip on me. "Do you want to talk now?"

I shook my head, with my face still pressed into his chest. "Not here."

"Alright then." And with that he stood up, taking me with him. I let out a squeal.

"Ryan put me down I'm too heavy for this." He shot me a warning glare telling me to drop it but put me down anyway. I followed him out of the bathroom and into the dining room. Jackie put on a satisfied smirk when she saw my tear streaked face. That was, until she saw Ryan's pissed off face, he slammed a few bills onto our table and grabbed his jacket. He made a show of taking my hand and placing a kiss on it before leading me outside, leaving an astonished Jackie behind us. When we got in the car, he sat there staring at the steering wheel, not even starting the car. Oh man, this was going to be a long car ride.


	6. Chapter 6

"So are you going to tell me what happened in there?" I paused trying to muster up some courage before replying.

"I just, I'm not very good at taking criticism, especially about my body." I told him meekly. "And the last 24 hours haven't exactly been fun for me, so I think I'm just a little extra sensitive today."

He looked over at me and opened his mouth to say something before quickly closing it. He nodded, turning back to look at the road and bit his lip nervously.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to eat any lunch." I whispered looking down at my lap where my hands rested, clasped tightly together. He's mad at me. Why am I such an emotional freak? He hates me now.

"No, it's fine. I'll be okay until we get home."

"I'll leave tonight if that's what you want."

His head snapped over to look at me. "What?!"

"You obviously didn't know what you were getting yourself into last night and I'm doing nothing but causing drama and complicating your life. You shouldn't have to put up with me and I know you're too nice to ask me to leave, so I'll do it for you."

"N-no you can't just leave like that. I'm just getting to know you!" He pulled into the parking lot of a random hardware store and parked the car. He turned to face me, "I know we just met and this is a really weird situation that people would probably call me crazy for getting myself into, but I don't care. There's something about you that makes me want to be in this situation and deal with the drama. I feel really protective of you which is weird because we literally met less than 24 hours ago but I want to at least get to know you. And if you still want to leave after that then feel free, but I don't want you out of my life just yet. Please."

"Okay." Was all I could manage to get out.

There was silence as we sat there looking at each other until he reached over the center console pulling me into an awkward hug. "I meant it when I said I wanted to take care of you, please just give me the chance to." I nodded, not sure how to reply to that. Here was this man I had just met and he was already nicer to me than anyone in my life ever had been and I had no idea how to take it.

We sat there, reveling in the embrace for another minute before he pulled away with a sigh. "This is probably a bad time to bring this up but if you're sticking around for a while we should probably get your stuff from your old place." This elicited a moment of panic for me.

"No, I-I can't go back there. If I go back he's not going to let me leave again."

"It's okay, I'll be there. Besides you said you were going to visit his parents this weekend anyway so he's probably not even there." The thought of Ryan being there with me made me feel a whole lot safer but I still didn't want to go back there.

"But if he is there he's going to be angry, and when he gets angry he gets violent." I saw a flash of anger in his eyes, his whole body tensing.

"Abigail, I need you to tell me the truth, did he hit you?"

"I. He, um, yeah, a couple of times." My eyes looked back down at my hands, picking at my nails.

"FUCK!" he grunted slamming his hands onto the steering wheel. I jumped shifting closer to the door. Rage filled his eyes. He was majorly pissed off. This is a new side of Ryan that I don't think I like. He seemed to notice that he was scaring me and calmed down a bit. He reached out for my hand and I flinched away slightly. At this the rage in his eyes disappeared and was replaced with sadness. He grabbed my hand as tenderly as possible looking me in the eyes, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just, I'm so furious that someone would have the nerve to lay a hand on you. It's not right."

I relaxed a bit at his words, squeezing his hand back gently, letting him know that I was ok.

"So it's your choice, we can either go get your stuff or you can keep wearing my clothes, which I really don't mind." I had to let out a small giggle. With one sentence, Ryan was able to change the atmosphere in the car from tense and angry to flirty.

I thought for a second before replying, "Can we do both?"

At this he raised one eyebrow, giving me a sexy little smirk, "I knew I liked you."

I laughed again and he started the car, pulling out of the parking lot and making our way back to the office. The rest of the day went by quickly, most of it I sat on the couch with a man named Jon while Ryan and the others filmed some stuff. Michael loosened up and even started joking around with me when they were done and the whole fiasco that happened at lunch was pretty much forgotten.

At the end of the day both Ryan and I were happy. We made our way home talking about random things with smiles on both of our faces. I can't remember the last time I was this happy. Half way through the car ride however the mood changed a bit.

 

"So we should probably go get your stuff after dinner tonight, because we're going to be busy all weekend?" He said giving me an awkward smile.

"Oh, what are we doing?"

He let out a fake cough, "Um, so, I have my kids this weekend."

"Wait, what? Are you sure you want me around them?"

"I do if you want to meet them. They're pretty great kids, they'll like you, trust me."

"I mean, I just met you, is their mother going to be okay with me staying in the same apartment as them all weekend?"

"Well her dirtbag boyfriend already moved in with them and I didn't have a say in that, so I'm sure it'll be okay."

"But what if they hate me?"

He turned to look at me and laughed, "If they're even a little bit like me, they'll like you. Besides you're awesome, they won't have a reason to hate you."

My cheeks reddened slightly at that, "Thank you Ryan."

"You're very welcome dear." Now it was his turn to blush.

"Pet names already Haywood?" I teased.

"Shut up I didn't mean to say that." He blushed harder.

"Hmm, whatever you say Pookie." I laughed

"No. Stop. That's horrible." He gave me a disgusted look at the name.

"If you insist Snookums."

"You're never going to let this go, are you?" He asked with a defeated look on his face.

"Never in a million years Sugar." I gave him one last triumphant smile and he sighed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Stop being stubborn and let me help you!" I groaned at Ryan. As much I loved the view from the breakfast bar while watching him cook, I was so bored of sitting around. He looked up from where he was chopping vegetables to give me a look that told me I wasn't going to get my way.

"No, just sit and relax."

"Ryan, I have been sitting and relaxing all day. I'm bored." He set his knife down giving me his full attention. "Look, I'm not asking you to let me cook you a five-course meal, I just want to help chop vegetables or something."

With a sigh he finally agreed, "Fine, you chop up the vegetables and make the salad." I let out a small squeal jumping up from my seat. "But that's it. When you're done you're going back to relaxing, okay?"

I giggled giving him a mock salute, "Yes sir," I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and took his place chopping vegetables.

"Sir huh? I could get used to that." He teased and I could feel my cheeks heat up.

"Oh shut up or I'll start with the pet names again, Pumpkin Pie." I said, trying not to sound as embarrassed as I was, focusing all of my attention the task at hand. I hadn't noticed that he had moved to stand behind me until he put his hands down on the counter on either side of me. I jumped as I felt his hot breath hit the back of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. He leaned down to whisper in my ear, "No I think I prefer sir." My breath hitched in my throat at how low and sexy his voice was, and I suddenly became all too aware of how close we were. As he pulled back his arms, he made sure to brush his hand against the exposed skin on my hip where my shirt rode up a bit. His touch seemed to set my skin on fire and I felt like I was about to melt into a puddle right in front of him.

He lingered a moment longer behind me and when he finally walked back over to the stove I cleared my throat, "Right, I'll uh, I'll be right back." He chuckled lowly as I walked down the hallway and into my room, shutting the door and sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. My hands trembled as I tried to catch my breath and stop my imagination from putting anymore dirty thoughts into my mind. My goodness, how does this man do this to me with a sentence. I don't think I've ever lusted towards someone this hard before.

I jumped as I heard a knock on the door, hitting the back of my head on the wall. "Shit."

"You okay in there?"

"Oh, y-yeah, I'm f-fine." I managed to stutter. Wow, good job making yourself sound like a complete idiot.

"Can I come in?"

"Um, I guess. Just give me second." I took a deep breath trying to calm my heartbeat and hopefully keep from jumping him when I opened the door. I stood up and opened up the door slowly, trying not to look at him.

"Sorry about what just happened, I tend to be a bit... impulsive sometimes. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I should probably think before doing shit like that."

"No, it's okay. It's not that I was uncomfortable, I was just a little too comfortable with that and it kind of freaked me out a bit." He was silent for a moment, trying to process what I had just said, before he grabbed my chin lifting my face and making me look at him. He searched my eyes for a few second as if trying to tell whether or not I was lying.

He broke out into a huge grin, "So you're into that kind of shit, huh? The whole domination thing?" he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes, "And Ryan's back." I pushed him out of the doorway and against the wall. "I think dinner's burning." I gave him a playful smirk before sauntering off back to the kitchen making sure to put an extra little sway in my hips. He came in a few seconds after me acting as if nothing had happened, but I hadn't missed the dumbfounded look he had been wearing when I walked away from him. We finished making dinner and sat down to eat, joking and laughing as usual. It was crazy how fast the mood could change between the two of us. From lustful to friendly in an instant.

We finished eating and cleaned up without anymore incidents and set off to retrieve my stuff. I swallowed my fear as we pulled up to the apartment, breathing out a sigh of relief when I noticed the lights were off and his car wasn't in the parking lot.

"I don't think he's here, we should be okay to go get my stuff."

"Thank god he's not here, I might have beaten the shit out of him." I looked over at him, giving him a warning look.

"Ryan. Stop."

He grabbed my hand giving it a squeeze, "I know I'm sorry. Let's go then."

We got out of the car and began walking up the stairs to my apartment, I went to grab the spare key from on top of the door frame only to find it wasn't there. "Um, okay. Plan B." Ryan looked confused as I walked back down the stairs. Aaron may have gotten rid of the spare but he definitely forgot that we gave a key to Mrs. McGuire, our elderly downstairs neighbour. Ryan followed along behind me and stood quietly as I knocked on her door. A large smile lit up her face when she saw it was me.

"Hello dear. Who is this?" She gave Ryan a questioning look.

"Oh this is my brother, James. He just flew in to visit and I accidentally locked us out of my apartment. Do you still have that emergency key we gave you?" I said with a sweet smile, she always liked me.

"Of course hun, this is exactly what it's for. Come in, come in while I find it." She opened the door wider beckoning us in and retreating off to her kitchen to find the key.

"Thank you so much Mrs. McGuire! You're a lifesaver."

"I told you, please call me Christina. Mrs. McGuire makes me feel old." Ryan let out a small laugh. "Ah, here it is! Now, do try to be more careful not to forget your key in the future."

"Thank you Christina, I'll definitely try. Have a good night!" I slightly shoved Ryan towards the door.

"You too. It was lovely to meet you James." Ryan gave her a polite smile and a nod walking out with me following after him, closing the door behind me.

"That was easy, I thought we were going to have to break in or something." Ryan joked.

"What can I say, old people obviously like me." I told him with a shrug and a smirk.

"Hey!" He exclaimed sounding offended.

"Relax, I'm kidding. You're not that old."

When we finally made it into the apartment I quickly packed a couple of bags with clothes, toiletries, all of my important documents and id's. On the way out I grabbed my purse and my work jacket from beside the door.

"All right, that's it. Let's get out of here now." Ryan said nothing, just nodded and led the way back to the car. 15 minutes into the car ride home the silence felt like it was suffocating. "What's wrong?" I asked turning towards Ryan.

"Hmm, oh nothing."

"Don't lie to me, tell me what's going on in your head." He quickly glanced over at me biting his lip before turning back to the road.

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing." He told me with a shake of his head. I reached over and grabbed his hand that was gripping the gear shift so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"Ryan, please tell me." He sighed and slipped his hand out of mine to rest it on the steering wheel. Ouch. I felt my heart break a little as he pulled away from me. Why was he all of a sudden not okay with me holding his hand? He's been doing it all day. "Oh, okay." I tried to hide the hurt in my voice as I said it but obviously did a bad job since he looked at me with a remorseful look in his eyes.

"I'm really too old for you aren't I?" he asked.

"What? What are you talking about?" he looked over at me and didn't say anything. "You are in no way too old for me. I mean sure, there's a hell of an age gap between us but what we're doing is completely legal. And to be honest I don't think I've ever had a connection like this with someone my age. I don't care how old you are, I know I joke about it but that's all it is, joking. I'll stop. I'm sorry I made you think that I gave a shit about your age. But if you really don't want someone as young as me that's fine, I'll leave you alone."

He gave me an incredulous look as he said, "Are you kidding me, how could anyone not want to be with you? You're incredible."

"And you're probably the most amazing man I have ever met. Stop doubting yourself. Trust me, if I didn't like you I wouldn't have let the little incident in the kitchen happen earlier, Sir." I saw him shiver when I said it. I leaned over the console as he parked in his driveway. Whispering into his ear, "By the way I know you're into that shit too." I got out of the car swiftly, grabbing my bags from the back and walking up to the door. Turning around to see a speechless Ryan still sitting in the car I called out to him, "Are you coming or not? The door's locked." A look of realization spread on his face as he scrambled to get out of the car, almost tripping on the walkway.

 

The rest of the night was spent cuddling on the couch, watching tv with Mya while a grumpy Ryan sat across the room, grumbling about me being a tease.


	8. Chapter 8

I hummed quietly as I made my way around the kitchen. I sighed as I looked up at the clock again. 7:53. God I hate mornings. I also have no idea where anything in here is. After 10 minutes I was finally able to find everything I needed to make french toast and bacon. I quickly mixed up the egg, milk, and vanilla, soaking the bread in it then putting it into the hot pan before sighing and checking the clock again. 8:09. My humming changed to quiet singing as I continued to make breakfast. The song Dream A Little Dream of Me had been playing on repeat in my head all morning.

"Well good morning." A deep sexy morning voice greeted me, making me jump. Oh good lord! He looks way more attractive than any human should right after waking up.

I cleared my throat, trying to focus on breakfast. "Sorry did I wake you?

He gave a small shrug, "Yeah but it's fine, I had to be up at 8:30 anyways. Plus you woke me up with food so I don't really care what time it is." He smiled and I laughed, finishing up the last 2 pieces of French toast and turning the stove off. "So why didn't you tell me you could sing?"

I let out an amused laugh, moving around him to put breakfast on plates I had set out. "Because I can't."

"Really? Because what I just heard sounded pretty great." I shook my head at him pouring myself a cup of coffee before joining him at the breakfast bar to eat.

"There's a difference between being on key and being a good singer."

"Well you sounded a whole lot better than just 'on key'." I just shrugged at him, more content to eat than argue. "Nice song choice by the way."

"It was stuck I my head all night last night and this morning for some reason. I don't know why because I haven't heard it in forever." I chuckled.

"Hmm are you sure about that?" he asked me with a smirk and one eyebrow raised. Stop being so cute.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." I gave him a confused look.

He shook his head, smiling softly at me, "I sang that song to you." I got even more at this.

"What? Whe-" The bathroom. "Oh, I guess you did. Why that song?"

He looked down at his empty plate, blushing, "I used to sing it to my kids when they couldn't sleep."

"Aww that's so cute!" I told him with a silly grin, at which he rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." He got up to put our empty dishes in the sink.

"No, it really is cute. You are a really great dad." He turned around to look at me.

"You have never even seen me be a dad before."

I walked towards him wrapping my arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders in return, tucking my head under his chin. "I don't need to see you with your kids to know that you're a great dad. You're an incredible man and I can tell you love your kids. If the way you've treated me is any indication, you may just be the best dad in the world." He hugged me a little tighter and placed a soft kiss on the top of my head.

"Thank you." I nodded against his chest, pulling away and leaning up as far as I could to kiss him on the cheek.

"You're too tall." I said with a frustrated sigh. He chuckled and patted me on the head.

"You're 5 feet tall, I don't think I'm the problem."

"Hey! I'm 5 feet and half an inch." I laughed. "Okay, I'm going to shower and get ready."

Ryan gave me an exaggerated sexy face and wiggled his eyebrows, "Ooh, can I join?"

 

"You're a loser." I walked away shaking my head at him.

 

 

"Are you sure you want me to meet them?" We sat in Ryan's car outside of his ex-wife's house.

"Of course I do, now shut up and get out of the car." He laughed. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I nodded and got out of the car with him. He grabbed my hand and we walked up the path to the front door. Ryan knocked on the door and we stood back to wait. A beautiful woman opened the door. She was tall, with gorgeous brunette hair and incredible green eyes. She gave me a once over, pausing when she saw our connected hands, and put on a very fake smile.

"Ryan, who's this?" she asked him smugly.

I could see Ryan tense up and grimace at her, "This is Abigail, she's going to be spending the weekend with us." He squeezed my hand tighter as he said this.

She clucked her tongue and turned back to look at me, "Right well I'm Lisa." She sneered, reaching out to shake the hand that Ryan wasn't holding.

"It's good to meet you Lisa, I'm really excited to meet the kids." I said back as confidently as possible even though I was sweating bullets. Before she had a chance to reply, there were two small children running towards the door.

"Daddy!" The older boy squealed as Ryan bent down to hug the both of them.

"I missed you guys so much," he picked them up, a little girl in his left arm and a boy in his right. I couldn't help but smile at the sight, "I have someone I want you guys to meet. This is Abigail and she's going to spend the weekend with us." I gave them a wave and a big smile. The little girl gesturing that she wanted me to hold her. I giggled and took her from Ryan's arms.

"And what's your name little lady?"

"I'm Louise and I'm this many!" she smiled at me proudly holding up three fingers.

"Wow you're almost as old as me!" I teased. She wrinkled her nose at my words.

"No way! You're old!" we both laughed and Ryan looked shocked.

I set her back down so she could get her stuff and turned towards the boy now hiding behind Ryan's leg.

I squatted down to be closer to his height, "And who might you be?" I asked with a smile.

He looked up at Ryan who nodded and ran his fingers through the little boy's hair. "I'm Ian." He replied quietly.

"Hi Ian, I'm Abigail, it's very nice to meet you." I said softly putting my hand out to shake his. He timidly put his hand in mine to shake and stepped out from behind Ryan. "We are going to have a super fun weekend." This finally earned a smile from him and I stood up meeting Ryan's eyes. He looked relieved that his kids seemed to like me and I was too. Hard part over. Now I just have to make sure they like me for the rest of the weekend.

10 minutes later, the kids were loaded into the car and we were off to Ryan's apartment. I think I would have lived in that moment forever if I could have. A huge grin on my face, two adorable children in the backseat giggling and trying to sing along to a song they didn't know. Ryan sitting beside me, those eyes that I loved, lit up with happiness. Everyone was happy and I felt at home for the first time in a long time.


	9. Chapter 9

A few hours after getting back home Ryan was in the kitchen making lunch while Ian and I coloured and Louise proudly showed off her stuffed pony to me.

"His name is Oreo because he's black and white. I love oreos. And ponies."

"You'll have to come meet the horses I work with one day then!" She looked at me excitedly when I said that.

"Can I? I've never met a real pony before! Can I ride one?" She jumped up and down with excitement as she pelted me with questions.

"You'll have to ask your dad if you're allowed and then I'll see what I can do." I giggled before she ran off into the kitchen yelling at her dad. She was so excited that she wasn't making any sense. Moments later Ryan came out of the kitchen holding his excited daughter with a very confused look on his face.

"What did you do to my kid?" He asked me jokingly.

I smiled and shrugged, "I may have mentioned that she should come meet the horses I work with and maybe ride one if her dad says she's allowed to." I told him with an innocent look on my face.

"Hmm I don't know, I don't think Louise would like that at all." He joked trying to hide his smile.

Louise looked like she might cry at that, "No! Please Daddy! I love ponies so much! Please let me ride one!"

Ryan let out an exaggerated fake sigh, "Well ok I guess, as long as Abigail promises to take good care of you."

"Yay!" she squealed and bounced up and down in his arms. Ryan couldn't hold back his smile anymore. "Did you hear that Abigail! Daddy said yes! Thank you daddy, you're the best daddy in the world, I love you!"

"I love you too Lou." He set her down and she ran over to me.

"When do I get to ride a horse?"

"I'll talk to your daddy about it tonight okay?" I asked and she nodded smiling.

The rest of the day went amazingly we went to play at the park after lunch and walked to a small ice cream parlor down the street after dinner for a treat, me and Ryan argued for 5 minutes about who was going to pay before I got fed up and just handed the man some cash with a smile. Ian warmed up to me, coming out of his shell and talking to me just as loudly and excitedly as Louise did.

At 9:30 when the kids had finally fallen asleep after insisting that I read them a story instead of Ryan, we both collapsed on the couch.

"I forgot how exhausting kids are." I mumbled leaning to rest my head on Ryan's shoulder.

"I think my kids like you more than they like me." He joked resting his head on top of mine.

"I'm really glad they like me, I was really nervous." I paused, "You have incredible kids Ryan."

He beamed, "Yeah, I do. You are incredible with them though."

I shrugged at him sleepily, "I raised my two younger siblings growing up and I always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher."

"Why aren't you then?"

"Kind of hard to afford university when you can barely afford rent and food." I laughed.

He sighed, "Alright time to get you to bed too."

I groaned, "But I'm so comfy right now."

He chuckled, slipping out from under me and I frowned but before I had chance to protest he had picked me up bridal style and I let out a squeak in surprise.

"Alright, alright, I'll go to bed. Just put me down, I'm too heavy for you to keep doing this shit." I could feel his chest vibrate as he chuckled again and he set me on my feet. I walked to the kitchen to grab a drink quickly and walked back out to see him putting a blanket and pillow on the couch. "What are you doing?" I questioned.

"Going to bed." He replied nonchalantly. "The kids are in my bed."

"I know that but why are setting up on the couch?"

He turned to me his brows furrowed in confusion, "Where else am I supposed to sleep?"

"You're taking my bed, I'm taking the couch."

"No way! I'm not letting you sleep on the couch it's so uncomfortable." He crossed his arms frustrated.

"Which is exactly why you're not sleeping on it. This is your home, I am a guest I am not making you sleep on the couch Ryan. You don't need to be a gentleman all of the time."

"Abigail, I am sleeping on this couch."

I shrugged, "Fine then I'm sleeping on the floor." And began to push his coffee table out of the way.

Grumbling under his breath quietly he walked over to me, picking me up again and carried me to the bed. But when he tried to set me down I refused to let go of him.

"Ryan, you better get your ass into this bed, you are not sleeping on the couch."

"Well I'm not letting you sleep on the couch." He retorted still trying to gently pull me off him.

"For fuck's sake Ryan, we'll share the bed then!" I whisper yelled at him, still aware that the kids were asleep next door.

He seemed to freeze, unsure of how to reply, "I mean, are you sure?"

"Ryan, I am done arguing about this. It's not like we're going to have sex we're just sleeping in the same queen sized bed, it's not a big deal."

Ryan finally gave in and I let go and went to my clothes finding a pair of sleep shorts and tank top to wear while he went to change into pyjamas. I went into the bathroom after him and saw his clothes laying on the floor. I slipped on his shirt and my shorts, brushed my teeth and went back to the room. He smirked when he saw what I was wearing.

"Nice shirt." He teased.

I smiled mischievously at him, "Thanks I stole it from a guy who really likes when I wear his shirts."

He was still chuckling at that when I slid into the bed where he was already laying. But as soon as I turned the lamp off he tensed up and almost held his breath.

"Ryan, you can breathe. You haven't been able to scare me off yet, sharing a bed isn't going to either." I whispered and could hear him exhale and turn to face me. I turned to face him as well, his face being lit by the moonlight streaming through the window. Now it was my turn to panic. Good lord, this man is gorgeous. And I probably look like a mess right now. And I snore. I think I made a mistake. As if he could see the gears in my head turning he smiled and raised his eyebrow.

"You can breathe you know?" He said, using my words against me.

"Shut up, you're not the one lying in bed with a gorgeous man." I mumbled hiding my face in the pillow.

"No I'm not," he whispered, "But I am the one laying in bed with the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

My breath caught in my throat and I looked back at him. A gentle, nervous smile resting on his face and those eyes. Ugh those eyes. The most gorgeous shade of blue staring back at me. "W-what?"

His smile grew wider, "You heard me."

"Clearly you haven't seen a lot of girls then." I managed to whisper and tried to turn away from him. Only to have him turn me back around and pull me into his chest.

"I have seen more than enough to know that I would pick you over them any day. Don't doubt yourself, you really are the most incredible woman I've ever met and I'm sorry that you can't see it." I could feel his chest vibrate as he spoke and a gentle kiss on the top of my head. I am falling harder and harder for this man every minute.

I was silent for a while, not sure how to reply. "Ryan?" I asked not sure if he was still awake.

"Yeah?" Came his sleepy reply.

"Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

I snuggled further into the warmth surrounding me letting out a small moan. I never want to leave this bed. I opened my eyes only to remember exactly where I was. In the night, I had somehow managed to lay pretty much on top of Ryan, our legs tangled together and my face smushed into his chest. I could feel my cheeks flush as I attempted to move away from him, only to have him wrap his arms around me and hug me closer to his body.

"Stay in bed for a while longer. I'm so comfy." God, sleep did great things to his voice.

"How long have you been awake?" I giggled.

"Maybe 10 minutes. I had probably the best sleep of my life last night. You didn't drug me, did you?" he laughed.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. You make a great pillow," I chuckled in return, "But I do have to pee so I suggest you let me go."

"Fine but you better come back to bed after." I nodded and he unwrapped his arms from around me. I slid out of bed, shivering when the cool morning air hit my bare legs. "You really do look incredible in my shirts." He muttered sleepily and I gave a teasing shake of my butt before heading to the bathroom.

When I was done, I headed back down the hallway, just as eager to get myself back into bed as I'm sure Ryan was. I was interrupted however when I saw Louise wander out of Ryan's room rubbing her eyes sleepily, her hair all over the place, and still cuddling he stuffed pony. She looked up at me and shuffled over gesturing for me to pick her up.

"Good morning Lou." I smiled at her.

"Abigail, will you make me breakfast?" I chuckled, she was so much like her dad.

"Sure hun, what do you want?" I asked turning around to head to the kitchen.

"Eggs!" she chirped, starting to wake up fully.

"Alright then, you sit here and I'll make the food." I quickly made up enough scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon for all four of us and a pot of coffee for Ryan and I. I poured him a cup making it the way I like mine and hoping it was at least close to how he liked his.

"Ok bug, let's go wake up your daddy." She giggled as I picked her up in one arm holding the coffee in my other hand.

I set the coffee down on the dresser as we got into the room, seeing that Ryan had fallen back asleep. He looked so peaceful, oh well, time to ruin that. I set Louise on the bed before getting on it myself. We both began jumping and yelling at him.

"Wake up sleepyhead!"

"Ya daddy wake up." Lou barely made out through her giggles. Ryan looked confused when he woke up before soon joining in on our laughter. Before I realised what he was doing he reached up and grabbed me pulling me down beside him and began to tickle me.

"Ryan! No please stop!" I yelled through my laughter, trying to wiggle away from him. When he finally stopped, he collapsed on the bed beside me, both of us out of breath but still laughing.

"You never came back to bed." Ryan said with a pout as Lou jumped in between us and laid down.

"That's because a certain little girl woke up and asked me to make her breakfast. I figured I'd let you sleep, you seemed like you needed it." I shrugged getting up and passing him his coffee and picked up Louise. "Your breakfast is getting cold you better hurry up." He sat up taking a sip of his coffee, moaning in delight.

"I think I'm in love with you," He chuckled, "My kids like you and you make us breakfast." Before I could say anything in return I heard another little pair of feet enter the room.

"Good morning buddy," I said to Ian cheerily, "I was just gonna go get you. Come on its time for breakfast." He grabbed my hand as I walked by him and we walked to the kitchen. I plated their food and poured them both a glass of milk, getting them settled at the breakfast bar before I got my own breakfast. Ryan came in just as I was leaning against the counter across from the kids about to start eating. He gave me a kiss on the top of my head as he passed by and I could myself blush.

"Abigail, why is your face all red?" Ian giggled from the other side of the counter. My face only turned more red at his words.

"Aww is Abigail embarrassed?" Ryan teased from the other side of the kitchen. I turned and gave him a glare.

"Shut it, Haywood." The rest of breakfast was uneventful and when we all finished eating I did the dishes and Ryan got the kids dressed. It was crazy how easy things seemed to fit together, we felt like a real family this morning.

After getting myself ready for the day, I joined Ryan in the kids in the living room. "So, what's the plan today?"

"Well we don't really have a plan. Suggestions are welcome though." He said with a hopeful look.

"What time do the kids go back to their mom's?"

"Um, 7ish. Why?"

"I have an idea. Come here for a minute." I told him with a smile leading him into the kitchen so the kids couldn't hear us. "So, I know this short notice but could we take Louise to see the horses today?"

"I'm fine with it but I have to call their mother to make sure." He grimaced.

"Yeah, of course. I have to make a few phone calls too just to get everything lined up." He nodded and pulled out his phone heading towards his room to make the call while I stayed in the kitchen.

I quickly called the lesson coach at my barn to make sure I could use her lesson horse and her tack. Midway through our conversation Ryan re-entered the kitchen, nodding his head and giving me a thumbs up to let me know that Lisa had agreed. I finished up my phone call and smiled at Ryan.

"So we're good to go at about 1:30, so I'm thinking we should grab lunch first."

"Sounds like a plan. Should we tell her now?"

"No. I want to surprise her." I told him with an excited grin, "We just need to make sure she is wearing pants and closed toe shoes."

"You're awesome," he said with a small laugh and a huge smile to match mine, "Thank you for doing this for her."

"She's an awesome kid, she deserves it." There was silence for a moment as we stood there just smiling at each other before Ryan began to lean in. Before I knew what was happening, he was kissing me. It was nothing scandalous, just a quick, simple kiss. It surprised me so much that I forgot to return the kiss.

When he pulled away I was still standing on my tip toes, our faces inches apart, staring into each other's eyes once again before he pulled away from me completely. Fear and sadness filled his eyes as he put as much space between us as possible. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I'm so so sorry. I crossed a line."

"Ryan." I cut off his rambling.

"Yeah?" he asked looking back up at me again. I crossed the space between us leaning up and putting my hands on the back of his neck to pull his head down towards mine once again. This kiss filled with passion and fire, had fireworks exploding on the backs of my eyelids and butterflies fluttering in my stomach. When we both pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine as we both caught our breath, unable to stop the smiles on both of our faces.


	11. Chapter 11

After having lunch at a cute little diner, we packed the kids back into the car and I hopped into the driver's seat since Ryan had no idea where he was going. The four of us sang and danced along with the music on the radio over the short car ride. As soon as we pulled into the driveway of the barn I looked into the rear-view mirror to see Louise's eyes widen with excitement as she let out an excited squeal.

"Am I gonna ride a pony?" she asked eagerly. I giggled and Ryan nodded.

"You sure are hun." I told her, the grin on my face matching hers. Lou bounced up and down in her car seat. "But there are some rules ok? You can't yell or run around because it might scare the horse."

"Don't worry. I'll be good Abigail!" I parked the car and we got the kids out of their seats. Louise bounced along beside me, holding my hand and muttering excitedly about riding a pony. When we walked through the door my friend, and owner of the horse we were borrowing, greeted us.

"Hey Abi, who are these lovely people?" Annette asked with a smirk, raising her eyebrows at Ryan.

"This lovely little lady here is Louise, her brother Ian, and their dad Ryan. Everybody this Annette," All three of them waved and smiled at her. "Miss Louise here wants to ride a horse."

"Ah, I see. Well I already brought Max in for you, he's in his stall."

"Awesome thanks Nettie," she groaned at the nickname and I smiled, "I'll pull him out. Louise go stand with your dad for a minute." After introducing Louise to Max, I helped her brush him and I tacked him up.

"Alright little lady, you ready to ride a horse?" She nodded excitedly as I put a helmet on her. And lead Max out into the arena, Ryan and the two kids following behind me. Louise bounced over to me, Ryan following her and Ian sat down in a chair by the door. Ryan looked very nervous.

"Are you sure this is safe? That's a big horse." He whispered to me.

"Ryan, it will be okay trust me. Now you need to put Lou on the horse because I'm too short." I laughed as Ryan picked her up setting her in the saddle.

"Daddy, daddy, I'm on a horse!"

"I know sweetheart, and you are doing a terrific job." He replied, unable to stop the grin that spread across his face seeing how happy she was. I spent the next 30 minutes leading Louise around on the horse, until I could tell both her and Max were beginning to get bored.

"Alright Lou, Max is getting pretty tired so I think it's time to hop off and let him go see his friends. But I promise we'll come back again another time." She nodded sadly and I looked over to where Ryan was standing nervously, "Hey Ry, do you want to get some pictures?"

"Yeah, of course," he said nodding his head as I lead Max towards him.

"Do you want to just stick your head out the door and ask Annette to come back in here quickly, I can't really take the pictures." I giggled and a few moments later Annette came in and took Ryan's phone as he held Ian and stood beside Lou who was still grinning atop the horse. I tried to hide on the other side of Max so as not to ruin the pictures.

"Hey, what are you doing, aren't you going to be in the picture?" Ryan asked me.

"Oh, I uh thought you might want pictures of just your family." I told him with a blush.

He chuckled and shook his head, "Come over here weirdo and get in the picture."

I couldn't help but laugh as well as I stood beside him, "Sure thing Sugarplum." I said, making all of us laugh for a minute before finally standing still and smiling for a picture.

"Okay and one bad one now, make a silly face!" Annette called out to us, so we did, bursting into another round of giggles afterwards and finally lifting Louise off of the horse.

We made quick work of untacking and brushing Max and finally the kids said goodbye to Annette Ryan went to get them strapped into their car seats.

"I'll be out in a second, I just need to talk to Annette quickly." Ryan nodded, gave me a quick kiss on the head, and followed the kids out to the car. "Thanks so much for letting us borrow Max on such short notice, it means a lot." I told her giving her a hug.

"It was no problem sweetheart, you know I'd do anything for you, you're like a daughter to me. But I've got to ask, what's going on between you and Ryan? Does Aaron know about him?"

"Actually, I left Aaron and I'm kind of living with Ryan right now." I paused for a second, "I don't know what's going on between us but he's very flirty and he kissed me this morning. I think I might actually like a decent guy for the first time in my life."

"Good for you! I never liked Aaron anyway, he was kind of an asshole."

I sighed, "Yes, yes he was. Anyways here's your money for Max, thank you again." Just as I finished handing her the money Ryan walked in.

"Hey the kids are all strapped in and requesting we stop for more ice cream." He informed me with amusement in his voice.

"Alright, I'm ready to go. Thanks again Annette." I said giving her another hug.

"Of course, bye Hun, it was nice meeting you Ryan."

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too." He told her, putting on his most charming smile.

Since it was 3:00 already we decided ice cream was not the best idea and instead stopped at the grocery store to get some ingredients I needed for dinner and some ice cream for dessert, then headed home. While I began making chicken parmesan, Ryan took Mya and the kids for a walk to the park.

I missed cooking for a family, it makes me happier knowing that I'm not going to be eating alone. Aaron never ate my cooking, he was never home before 8 and I was pretty sure it was because he was sleeping with someone else. I let out a content sight, look at me now cooking for an incredible man and his adorable children.

Ryan and the kids got home 20 minutes before dinner was done, bursting through the door laughing. I smiled as Ryan walked into the kitchen and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, how was the park?"

"It was great. I wish they didn't have to go back to Lisa's." Ryan sighed leaning against the counter beside me.

"Me too." I looked at the clock, "Dinner's going to be done in about 15 or 20 minutes, can you get the kids to wash their hands please."

"I'm on it." He smiled once again and walked out of the kitchen. I quickly set the table and poured some drinks for all of us before pulling dinner out of the oven.

"Foods ready!" I called out and very quickly there were three very hungry looking people standing in the kitchen. I giggled, "Alright guys, go sit down. Ryan do you mind taking the salad and I'll grab the chicken." He nodded grabbing the salad and following me to the table. While we ate we all laughed and told stories and it just felt right. I had forgotten how much I wanted a family of my own, a few kids and a husband that I loved. It kind of made me sad when I remembered that these weren't my kids and Ryan wasn't my husband. Oh well, a girl can dream.

After dinner and dessert, we dropped the kids off at Lisa's and came back home to clean up the apartment and do the dishes. We finally said goodnight at 9:30 and went to bed because both of us were utterly exhausted. But when 11:30 rolled around and I was still laying in bed unable to fall asleep, I decided it was time to get up and get a drink. But when I left my room I could see the light in Ryan's room still on. I quickly abandoned my plan to head to the kitchen and instead knocked on his door.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah, come in." He answered. I opened the door to see Ryan sitting up in bed with a book in his hands. "Hey, what's up?" he questioned with a concerned look.

"I just can't sleep and I saw your light on so I figured I'd come bug you for a bit." I shrugged.

A wide grin spread across his face as he replied, "Darling you can bug me anytime you want as long as you dress like that." I looked down to see that I was only wearing a tight tank top and shorts and rolled my eyes at him despite the blush that covered my cheeks. He laughed at me and patted the empty space on the bed beside him, "Climb in, I can't sleep either." I climbed in under the blankets and tucked myself under his arm, curling into his side.

I could feel his chest vibrate as he talked, "You're like a cat."

I giggled, "Shut up. You're warm and nice to cuddle." We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's presence. "Hey Ryan, can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"Why do you still wear your wedding ring?"

He paused for a second before responding, "I only wear it at work, we have very observant fans and I don't think I'm ready for all the questions about our separation yet."

"Do you still love her?"

His breathing faltered before he answered, "She was a huge part of my life for over 20 years, I don't think I'll ever stop loving her. But I'm not in love with her anymore."

I nodded, "Good," and he gave me a confused look, "I wanted to make sure before I did this." I moved so that I was sitting on his lap, straddling him and brought our lips together again. This time it was a slow and passionate kiss, like we were savouring every second of it. When I finally pulled away for air we were both panting and I slid off Ryan's lap to cuddle up against his side again. "Can I stay in here tonight? My bed feels too lonely."

Ryan let out a soft laugh, "After that, I'm not letting you go back to your own bed." My face stretched into a content smile as we laid down and Ryan leaned over to turn off the lamp on his nightstand. He gave me one more soft kiss on the lips before pulling me close to his chest, "Goodnight dear."


	12. Chapter 12

“Nooooo,” I groaned as the steady beeping of an alarm clock awakened me. Ryan leaned over and turned the alarm off before I could feel him gently try to move away from me so that he could get out of bed. “Ryan no,” I groaned again as I wrapped my arms and legs around him.  
I felt the rumble of his chest under my head as he chuckled, “You know, some of us have to get up and go to work.” And there was that sexy morning voice again.  
“I know just 10 more minutes and then I’ll get up with you and make breakfast,” I pouted looking at him with the best puppy dog eyes I could muster, having just woken up.  
He smiled as he sighed, “You’re too cute to say no to.”  
In return, I gave him a big cheesy grin, “Thank you baby,” I said as I leaned up to gave him a kiss on his jawline and snuggled in closer to him.  
“Are you going to be ok on your own today?”  
“Of course I am,” I looked up to meet his eyes, “Ryan, I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”  
“I know you can, I just wanted to be sure,” he paused, “You could always come to work with me again?”  
I sighed, sitting up and taking his large hand in my smaller ones, “If you aren’t comfortable with me being alone in your apartment, I will go with you. But I promise you that I will be okay on my own.”  
He sat up as well to make eye contact with me, “It’s not that, I just, I worry about you being all alone. What if you have a panic attack or something and I’m not here?”   
I laughed softly and leaned up to kiss him on the forehead reassuringly, “Ryan, you’re not always going to be here to protect me from the big, scary world. I will probably just spend the day unpacking, who knows maybe I’ll even do some baking. I promise I will not hurt myself and I will probably not set your apartment on fire.”   
He grinned at that and shook his head, “Alright, but you promise you’ll call if anything happens?”  
“I promise,” I told him holding out my pinky. He scoffed but linked his pinky in mine anyway. We both broke into a fit of giggles.  
“Now I do believe I was promised breakfast?”   
I nodded, a huge smile still on my face, “I will get right on it as soon as I brush my teeth.” With that I hopped out of bed and walked to the bathroom.   
Breakfast consisted of omelettes since we desperately needed to go grocery shopping and couldn’t make much else with what we had. We smiled and joked while we ate. It was perfectly domestic.  
“Ok, text or call me if you need anything at all today,” Ryan told me as he stood by the front door. I walked forward and placed my hands on the back of his neck.  
“Ryan go to work and have a fantastic day, I promise I will be fine,” I smiled and pulled his head down to meet mine in a quick kiss.  
“Alright I should be home at 4 or 5, have a good day.”  
“I will,” I smiled and gave him one more kiss before he left. As I was walking away from the door I noticed his ring still sitting on the shelf in the entryway, where he set it after taking it off Friday night. I grabbed it and rushed to the door flinging it open, “Ryan!”  
He spun around quickly, a startled look on his face, “What?”   
“You forgot your ring.”   
His confused look turned into a grin as he replied, “I know,” and with that he gave me a small wave, turned back around, and kept walking. I slowly walked back into the apartment, smiling like a fool as I set the ring back down.

True to my word, I spent all day unpacking and organizing all my things, while I listened to some Achievement Hunter videos. Might as well get to know Ryan and his friends a little better.  
At 4:30 I was sat on my bed sorting paperwork when my phone rang, I answered it with a grin after seeing who was calling, “What’s up buttercup?”  
“Hey! How are you?” Ryan’s voice gently asked.  
“I’m fine, and your apartment hasn’t been burned to the ground yet so that’s a plus,” I laughed.  
“Haha,” he mocked and I could almost hear the eye roll that I was sure went along with it, “Anyways, I just called to let you know that unfortunately I’m going to be a lot later than I thought. We’re going to be recording until probably 6,” he sighed.  
“Okay, that’s fine. Thanks for letting me know.”  
“So, do you want me to stop and grab food on my way home?”  
“Nope. Don’t worry about dinner, I’ll take care of it. Just hurry up and finish recording so you can get your cute butt home,” I chirped, an idea already forming in my head.  
“Aww how sweet, you think my butt’s cute?” He teased with a laugh.  
In the background, I could hear what sounded like Michael screaming, “Ryan, stop talking to your girlfriend about your butt so we can fucking finish recording!”  
Ryan groaned, “Alright I have to go dear, I will see you at home.”  
“Bye Ryan, have fun recording and drive safe. I’ll see you soon,” I smiled and hung up the phone. Quickly googling the nearest grocery store. I threw on my shoes and grabbed my purse, I hurried out of the apartment and to the store, making my way up and down the aisles grabbing the ingredients I needed.  
By 5:45 I had gotten home with the groceries, slipped into a cute red A-line dress, braided my hair, and applied some mascara and a nude lipstick. I smiled at myself in the mirror before hurrying to start dinner. I quickly mixed together the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies and put them in the oven before I started putting together my homemade spaghetti sauce.   
At 6:10 Ryan walked through the door just as I was pulling the cookies out of the oven, “Honey! I’m home!” he announced with a laugh before walking into the kitchen, “Mmm something smells good,” he said as walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder as I stirred the sauce.   
I turned my head placing a dramatic kiss on his cheek, “Welcome home darling,” in return he started kissing down my neck and I let out a small moan, “Ryan, if you don’t stop I’m going to burn our dinner.”  
“Hmm, I don’t mind,” his hot breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine, “Besides you look good enough to eat.”  
I giggled and rolled my eyes, “Seriously though, give me two minutes and then you can have my full attention, okay?”  
He sighed and kissed me one last time on the cheek, “Fine,” he grunted and walked into the living room while I put the pasta on to cook.  
“Okay, I am all yours for the next 10 minutes,” I smiled at Ryan who had just connected his phone to the speakers in the living room.  
He gave me a cheesy grin, “Come here.”  
I narrowed my eyes, “What are you up to, Haywood?”  
He just rolled his eyes and held his hand out towards me, “Just come over here and you’ll see,” I complied, putting my hand in his as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and Dream a Little Dream of Me started playing, “Dance with me?” he asked softly.  
I grinned, “You’re such a cheeseball,” but I danced with him none the less.  
We were silent for a minute before he spoke, “You look beautiful.”  
“Oh, thanks,” I blushed and rested my head against his chest, enjoying being this close to him.  
“Thank you,” he whispered.  
“For what?” I chuckled quietly.  
“Thank you for caring and for being here and for just being you,” he paused seemingly looking for the words to say, “I was actually excited to come home for the first time in years, I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I didn’t even know it was possible to feel this happy after knowing somebody for such a short time,” he laughed at the absurdity of our situation.  
For a minute, I just looked up at him, trying to find the right words to say. When I couldn’t, I instead took his hand that had been holding mine as we danced and placed it over my now racing heart. I looked up to meet his eyes again with a gentle smile. This is how you make me feel. He seemed to understand as he took my other hand and pressed over his heart, beating equally as fast as mine.  
Our next few minutes were spent exchanging passionate, needy kisses until the kitchen timer went off. I groaned, pulling myself out of his warm embrace, “Ok, I need to go take some cookies out of the oven and dinner should be done in about 5 minutes.”  
Ryan pouted, “Hmm fine as long as we can continue after dinner.”  
I laughed and nodded placing another quick peck on his lips before heading into the kitchen where I took the cookies out of the oven, stirred the pasta sauce, and set the table.  
Most of dinner was spent with Ryan excitedly telling me about all of the ridiculousness in the office that day. As we finished eating but were still sat at the table I decided it was time to finally bring up something that had been on my mind all day, “Hey Ry, I think we need to talk about rent.”  
He met my eyes with a confused look on his face, “What do you mean?”  
“I mean, if I’m going to be staying here we need to split the rent and other expenses.”  
He sighed, “Yeah I guess you’re right, but can we have cookies first?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hey guys... I'm alive!
> 
> Sorry about the long hiatus just really had no idea where I wanted this story to go and almost had a breakdown trying to force myself to write this chapter, but I'm back and I have some ideas and I'm excited to write again!


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